


The Dark Abyss

by everlarklane



Category: Danny Phantom, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Rise of the Guardians (2012), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Underland Chronicles - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Abused Harry, Aromantic Tony Stark, Asexual!Luxa, Avengers are all BAMFs, BAMF Nick Fury, Basically everybody has issues, Bisexual Steve Rodgers, Brian Banner's A+ Parenting, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Bruce and Tony are besties, Childhood Trauma, Danny Fenton/Sam Manson - Freeform, Deaf Clint Barton, Disabled Characters, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Fishermen are cool, Friendship, Gabe Ugliano's A+ Parenting, Gen, Gregor Has Issues, Harry Potter is a BAMF, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, M/M, Odin's A+ Parenting, Poor Ares, Poor Life Choices, Poor Loki, Poor Tony, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sibling issues, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Trans Character, Trust Issues, Updates Will Be Slow, Weasley Family, autistic avengers, neurodivergent, wrong time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-29
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-17 09:37:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1382641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everlarklane/pseuds/everlarklane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>S.H.I.E.L.D. knows everything right?<br/>Wrong.<br/>Despite the discovery of many new 'worlds' and additions to the Avengers- a half-ghost teen named Danny Phantom, a war-hardened super soldier named Gregor, and a wizarding hero named Harry, S.H.I.E.L.D. is missing one (or two) very important components in their world.<br/>The world of Percy Jackson.<br/>Percy's world has been turned upside down. Suffering from blackouts and flashbacks, Percy struggles to overcome the massive trauma the two wars have put him through. Two months into his self-imposed exile from his world, Percy finds himself entangled with the Avengers and SHIELD.<br/>A dangerous new foe is rising and to survive, the Avengers will have to band together with trust to survive.<br/>Unfortunately, teamwork may be impossible- from loners to sufferers of anxiety to years of trauma, the Avengers have a lot of issues to work through before they can save anyone.<br/>Time is running out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: PERCY

Chapter 1  
PERCY

The sky was a steely, unforgiving shade of gray. Fallen leaves, just beginning to turn colors had begun to litter the streets. The entire summer had been chilly, and fall had begun, even in early August. Clouds covered the sky and a cool wind blew throughout the city. A boy walked among the trees and open air, a flower in his hand. His eyes caught the sky above him as he stopped.  
Seventeen year old Percy Jackson knelt beside a grave.  
He was wearing a gray sweatshirt and faded jeans. A hood covered his trademark black hair, and normally bright green eyes were dulled with grief. A tear splashed on the ground beneath him.  
“Gods, Annabeth.” he choked, grasping the ground beneath him. The flower fell from his limp hand. “Why did you have to go?!”  
The wind whistled mournfully through the graveyard and Percy's hands gripped his hair as he broke down before his girlfriend's grave.

Sirens wailed through the night as Percy slowly walked home. His face showed no signs of the breakdown he had just experience, except for slightly reddened eyes. Cars flew past him in the street and he was occasionally jostled by passing pedestrians. The air was chilly for early October, and it easily cut through his thin sweatshirt.  
Hardly two months had passed since the end of the Second Giant War. Percy woke at least once every night with terrifying nightmares and memories, and many of his newest injuries were still bright, vivid scars and closing cuts. He had fled Camp Half-blood barely a week after the defeat of Gaea and the Romans, unable to handle the memories and reminders that came with his old safe haven.  
So far, no one had found him, except for Nico. Thankfully, the son of Hades seemed content to let Percy cool down, as long as he showed no signs of being suicidal.  
Percy snorted to himself and shoved his hands into his pockets. For a while, he had definitely considered joining Annabeth. It had taken the thought of her reaction to stop himself, but even now, Percy wondered if it was worth her disappointment.  
No, Percy...he told himself, shaking his head. Snap out of it...  
Suddenly, lights glared in his eyes and he raised an arm. Peering around it, he saw the source of the brilliant lights.  
Stark Tower. Home of the Avengers.  
Percy smirked and kept walking. The group of superheroes had become massively famous in the last year and during Percy's absence, they had managed to save New York. He had heard that several new people had joined the original six, including a spirit. Of winter.  
There was a sound of glass breaking and Percy leapt back, his fists automatically rising to combat any threat.  
Shards of glass fell where he had just been standing. Percy looked up to see a green fist retreating from the broken window and heard the faint sound of arguing. He kept walking. 

Percy pulled out the key and turned the doorknob. With a creak, the off-white door swung out, and he ducked inside. His hand felt along the wall and flicking a switch, the lights flickered to life.  
Home sweet home.  
Though his apartment was small with only a bedroom, kitchen, and tiny living room (there was a communal bathroom down the hall), it was surprisingly tidy and clean. Usually.  
Collapsing on the worn sofa, Percy stared up at the stained ceiling. The day's exhaustion was finally catching up to him and he felt numb. Without fully knowing why, he raised his hand into the air and concentrated.  
Water was pulled from the air. Little drops of water danced in his palm and a tiny smile graced his face. Lights spun off the water droplets and created rainbows.  
Finally, as Percy's arm grew tired, he closed his hand around the water and opened it again. The water dispersed into mist.  
He closed his eyes. 

Percy spluttered as water splashed in his face. Beside him, his fishing partner chuckled. Percy growled as the water slid down his face and raised an elbow to wipe the water away.  
A few weeks earlier, Percy had obtained a job as a fisherman. He spent the mornings and evenings down at the docks, either fishing for well, fish, or crab. He had saved many large sea creatures and had driven away sea monsters. This always gave him a good feeling, knowing he had helped some life, even small.  
Of course, he still felt bad about reeling in the fish. Very, very few were actually intelligent enough to speak, and though Percy did his best to make sure those were free or never caught, he couldn't save them all. But in general, this job was heaven for him.  
...except when freezing water splashed him. To work with mortals meant that Percy couldn't keep his stay-dry powers and this meant that he had to go home soaking wet after work like everyone else.  
“The sea got you again, huh, Percy?” Joseph Cowley chuckled. Percy shook his head, sending water everywhere. “Hey!”  
Percy smirked and began to reel in his net. The old fisherman sent him a wounded look and began to bring in his own net.  
The sun had barely begun its rise as the pair lifted the nets. Percy's muscles rippled in the faint sunlight as he brought a nearly-full net of fish on board. Grunting from the massive weight, Percy emptied the net.  
The boat rocked and Joseph turned to empty his own net as well only to be amazed.  
“Percy!” he exclaimed, watching the fish flop around him. Many were striped bass, just beginning to become numerous in the harbors of New York City. “This is incredible!”  
Percy rubbed the back of his orange-covered neck with a glove. “The fish swam in there themselves.” he muttered quietly.  
Joseph pointed at Percy's net with one hand. “Look.” he said clearly, emptying his own net. “Your net is beginning to fray.”  
Percy raised his now empty net, and sure enough, the fibers had stretched and frayed. “I got lucky.” he said modestly. “Surely this happens occasionally.”  
The old man raised one bushy eyebrow. “No.” he said. “We have enough fish now to go home. This is very rare. Only once have I ever experienced such luck...or skill.”  
“It wasn't skill.” Percy protested. “I only learned how to fish a few weeks earlier!”  
“And yet you have consistently brought in twice my usual amount of fish.” the old man said sternly. “You have a gift, Percy.”  
The fish flopped around their knees.  
The son of Poseidon nodded, his throat dry.  
“We should head back.” Joseph said, his blue eyes sparkling. “There is little for us to do.”  
“But can't we get more?” Percy asked. The old man chuckled.  
“Another catch like that and we will sink.” Joseph said. He looked up at the bloody sky and his expression darkened. “There will be a storm today.”  
Percy looked up. There was a slight scent of ozone and rain in the air, but the true giveaway was the sunrise. Surprisingly, the old wives' tale 'red skies in morning, sailors take warning' had a nugget of truth. Many times a reddish sky had brought rain. Coupled with the air's scent, the old man was right.  
“Let's head in.” Percy agreed.

Percy tied the knot, yanking hard on the trailing string. While Joseph's back was turned, he added a bit of magic he had learned and secured it so that only his fingers or Joseph's could undo the knot. He began to cover the boat, quickly and efficiently finishing up his chore.  
“Percy!” Joseph called. Percy turned and wiped his hands.  
“Yes?” he yelled back, brushing his hair out of his eyes.  
“Help me?” he asked, struggling to carry the buckets of fish. Percy's sea-green eyes widened and he hurried over, taking two of the four buckets.  
“Getting old, huh?” they said at the same time. Percy snickered.  
“You almost sounded like a teenager there.” Joseph joked. Percy grinned.  
“Well, I am one.” he shrugged. Joseph's eyes saddened.  
“Sometimes it's hard to tell.”  
The two fell quiet as they made their way to their stall and Joseph's hut. The sun was rising in the sky.  
Percy set down his buckets of fish. “I'll get the rest.” he said, turning to go.  
“No.” Joseph said sternly. “Go take a shower. You stink.”  
Percy glared at the old white-haired man. “Hey! So do you!”  
“But you'll be getting customers for me today.” Joseph said. “And I can't have you smelling like a fish yourself!”  
Percy made a face and unlocked the large freezer locker, dropping the latest buckets inside. “Gee, thanks.” he called as the man left to fetch the last of the fish.  
“Stop it with your fragile ego!” Joseph shot back, a large grin on his weathered face.  
Percy stuck out his tongue but entered Joseph's hut. He quickly crossed to the shower and washed.  
When he was done, Joseph had nearly finished setting up the shop. The fish, some caught the day before, some fresh from the sea were set out in the cool shade, kept cold by the old man's air conditioning and ice. Percy walked outside and straightened the old sign- 'Cowley's Fish'.  
For a moment, Percy closed his eyes, breathing in the salty air along the boardwalk.  
“Percy!”  
Percy sighed and turned to help his mentor prepare for the shopping rush. 

Screaming.  
That's what woke Percy Jackson.  
His head shot up, nearly hitting the broom handle behind him. His sea colored eyes darted around the room, and he got to his feet.  
He was in the corner of Joseph's stall.  
“Did you hear that Percy-” the man said, before gasping. The boy raced over only to have his jaw drop.  
A massive sea monster had risen in the ocean in front of them, roaring near the Statue of Liberty.


	2. Chapter 2: Bruce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will have a revolving cast of a few characters, of which you will have seen two by the end of this chapter. :) I've never written Bruce, so I hope this comes across okay!  
> Also, this bad boy is about four pages longer than the last chapter. 
> 
> Merry Christmas!

Bruce was used to strange. He had traveled all over the world, running from a military that had no legal right to pursue him. That was strange. Tony often did his best to try to make Bruce angry. That was strange. He turned into a goddamn giant green rage monster. Now, that was strange. But in the end, he could wrap his genius mind around the various concepts of suck that his life threw on him. He could tackle anything, he thought, go with the flow.  
That was before he met the tiny girl with the big gold eyes and her shapeshifting boyfriend. 

“No, Tony,” Bruce said, adjusting the microscope. The sound of glass clinking against the stainless steel counters echoed throughout the plain white lab.  
“But Brucie-” Tony whined, coming up behind the doctor. Bruce turned around, crossing his arms.  
“No.” Bruce pushed up his glasses, snatching up a pencil. “Sensitive project. No touching.”  
“I’m not going to break it,” Tony grumbled, fiddling with his phone.  
Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Two months ago. Effect on cell structures when exposed to gamma radiation and the introduction of stem cells. You made the lab uninhabitable for almost two weeks.”  
“That was Clint’s fault, not mine,” Tony pointed out. Bruce poked him with the sharp end of the pencil.  
Tony yelped, jumping away from his fellow scientist. “Jesus, Bruce!” He pulled a bag of Doritos from inside his sweatshirt, waving in front of Bruce, whose eyebrow rose higher. “To think I was going to share this with you!”  
“Grow up, Tony,” Bruce said, though eyeing the snack food. “I have to finish this by the end of the week.” He turned back to the microscope, jotting down notes with his sharpened pencil. He paused as the sound of crunching chips broke the silence. “You do realize I overheard that conversation between you and Clint?”  
“Which one?” Tony mumbled, perched on a table, chips stuffed in his mouth.  
“The one about Steve’s dorito shaped body,” Bruce said dryly.  
Tony grinned around his snack, a suggestive look in his eyes. He wagged his eyebrows. “What are you implying, doctor?”  
Bruce groaned, and shoved his face back at the microscope. “Not going there,” he said determinedly, mentally blocking out the sounds of Tony obnoxiously licking the chips before chomping down. He winced at the sharp crack the chip made.  
“Jesus, Tony,” Bruce muttered under his breath, adjusting the microscope a bit. “Could you not?”  
The man grinned and continued eating, though much more quietly.  
Bruce adjusted the slide, his hand neatly writing without looking as he examined the slide.  
“How are you doing that?” Tony asked curiously.  
Bruce sighed. “Don’t you have work to do?” he asked.  
Tony shook his head. “JARVIS and Steve locked me out of the lab,” he explained. “They were backed up by Pepper.”  
Bruce stared at the other man, one eyebrow raised. “And why did they do this?” he asked.  
“Something about me needing to eat and sleep,” Tony said, shrugging. “It was only three days.”  
“Did you eat at all in there?” Bruce asked, looking up from his experiment.  
“No,” Tony admitted, hopping up on a counter and swinging his legs. “I’m fine though,” he promised. “I’ve gone for over a week before without eating. I’m good.”  
Bruce let out a long, slow sigh. “Tony-”  
“Shh,” Tony said, rolling his eyes. Bruce wondered if he realized how childish it made him seem. “I just ate,” he gestured at the chip bag. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”  
Bruce eyed the other man. “I’m not so sure about that.”  
Tony let out a huff and leapt off the counter, landing with a little grunt. He didn’t bother adjusting his shirt, which had started to creep up his side.  
“Where are you going?” Bruce asked as Tony headed for the door. The younger man grinned as he pulled the door open.  
“JARVIS,” he said cryptically, letting the door shut behind him. Bruce sighed and turned back to his microscope. There was no point in trying to question the genius further. He would receive no real answer.

It was a few hours later that Bruce finally emerged from his lab, stomach grumbling. He rubbed his burning eyes as he ambled towards the kitchen, in no rush to get there.  
The kitchen was empty as Bruce slipped through the doorway. He tiredly pulled out a kettle, poured in water, and began to heat the water while rummaging through the cupboards to find his favorite afternoon tea. He let out an irritated sigh when he realized that he had run out sometime yesterday during his work marathon; normally Bruce was good with details like that. Bruce instead substituted with a spicy cinnamon and pepper tea, then settled against the counter to wait. Bruce’s eyes shut as he yawned, one hand rising slightly to cover his mouth.  
“I’m coming to get you,” a sinister voice suddenly whispered in his ear. Bruce’s whole body froze as the words echoed in his mind.  
“I’m gonna find you, boy, and I’m gonna kill you. I’m coming to get you,” his father had once whispered over a phone while Bruce’s fingers clutched the receiver nervelessly.  
Bruce startled away, breaths coming in fast pants. Green stretched across his skin as he awkwardly twisted away from- Clint?  
The Hulk curled beneath his skin, his muscles twitching and spasming as the Hulk strained to burst forth.  
“Hey, calm down, man,” Clint said, eyes wide and tone soothing. “It was just me. I was just teasing you. No need to Hulk out.”  
Bruce stumbled into the living room as the Hulk burst forth. He let out a roar, spinning in circles to find an enemy to smash, to protect. His fist slammed through the floor to wall glass that spanned the length of the room. Glass shattered across the newly renovated flooring.  
Hulk protect Banner. Where bad man? Where?  
Hulk growled as no enemy presented himself.  
Metal-man home. Where bad man? Why no smash?  
The entire team trickled into the room then, bodies carefully held in a non-threatening position.  
“Hey, buddy,” Tony said, “how are ya? I’m surprised you came out for a visit. Normally Bruce-”  
Hulk slammed his fist into the window, renting the air with the tinkling, splintering sound of breaking window glass. “Where bad man?”  
Tony watched Hulk as the giant withdrew his fist from the glass.  
“There is no bad man,” Tony said. “Clint was playing a joke on Bruce that backfired. It was a mistake.”  
“Bad man voice!” Hulk insisted in a low growl. Hulk, smash.  
“Can I talk to Bruce, buddy?” Tony said. “Then we can figure all of this out and you can smash something besides my windows.”  
“Smash?” Hulk said hopefully. Tony nodded. The Hulk nodded. “Okay. I get Banner.”  
Hulk began to shrink back into the much smaller scientist that the rest of the team knew and loved.  
Bruce blinked as he came back to his shrunken body, exhausted. Dread and guilt shot an electric current through his brain as he realized what had happened- the Hulk had come out in the middle of Stark Tower. His eyes shot open and Bruce Banner sat up, fear tingling down from the lump in his throat to his toes. If he had hurt someone-  
“Morning, jolly green,” Tony said cheerfully. Bruce looked up to the see the inventor standing above him with a grin. He opened his mouth, but Tony beat him to the punch. “No, you did not harm anyone, kill anyone, or even traumatize anyone, other than probably yourself. Hulk may have destroyed a few window panes, but those can be replaced.”  
Bruce stared at him for a few moments, then glanced back at the broken windows. He mentally calculated the money in his head and paled. “Tony, that’s almost six thousand dollars.”  
“So?” Tony asked, shrugging. “Pocket change.” He tossed Bruce a blanket to cover up with, and then a set of clothes, which Bruce hastily tugged on beneath the limited modesty of the blanket. “By the way, Hulk wants some free smashing time in the break room.”  
“That’s such a stupid name,” Clint said, swinging his leg back and forth from where he sat on a nearby table.  
“It’s a pun,” said Tony.  
“Exactly,” Clint replied, drawing out each syllable with as much sarcasm as he could muster- and being Clint Barton, that was a lot.  
Bruce just kept looking in between the two men, bags under his eyes. Behind him, Natasha and Rogers sighed. Craning his neck around to glance at them, he watched the hand Rogers offered him. Glancing up at Roger's face, he nodded and took it. Once on his feet, Bruce gave him a wry grin, swaying slightly. The other Avenger returned the smile, only for it to turn to slight annoyance as his phone rang. He picked it up and listened, face turning serious. Hanging it up, he turned to the team.  
“We’ve got a mission,” Rogers said, shoving the phone into his pocket. “Some kind of dog-like monster tearing apart a tiny park in Manhattan. Get suited up and meet back here.”  
They did so, Bruce awkwardly waiting as JARVIS helped Tony into his suit. It only took about a minute for the rest of the Avengers to return and then for Rogers to give them the coordinates.  
“Playtime,” Tony said, his suit whirring as it settled around the genius inventor. Rogers sent him an annoyed glare, which the other man shrugged off. “Grab on, jolly green.”  
They had realized early on that without Thor, who was frequently missing, they had one member capable of flight and another that owned a transportation device. Of course, with the new members currently being trained by Pepper in Miami, that number would rise a bit, but in the meantime, they had to make do. So, Bruce flew with Tony, Natasha with Steve, and Clint by himself on one of Tony’s spare motorcycles or piggyback with Thor when the god was around.  
Bruce clambered onto Tony’s back, tensing a bit as the straps deployed themselves around his ankles, waist, and wrists to keep him from falling to death while in flight. It only took one near tragedy for Tony to implement that safety feature. How, Natasha had said, two geniuses had not realized along the way that trying to go high speeds through the air with only a pair of loops to hang on to was a bad idea, she didn’t know. Nevertheless, had Tony not come to that startlingly obvious fact on his own after Bruce’s near demise, he was pretty sure Natasha would have pounded it into his head. With a hammer.  
“Let’s go,” Tony said, voice slightly muffled by the mask. And with that, they took off into the sky.  
Bruce couldn’t explain what it felt like to fly. Sure, he may have been pressed to Tony’s back, but the fact still remained that he was in the air, with nothing but another person with him. He couldn’t explain how it felt to have the wind so intimately pressed around him or the diminished size of everything below him, or the clouds so much larger, closer, despite Tony staying well below a height that could kill the scientist doctor.  
It was also rather cold after a period of time, especially on a chilly October day like today. About three minutes into the flight, Banner was comfortable with stating that he would be happy to land, had he not wanted to risk swallowing a fly unnecessarily.  
Luckily for him and his freezing extremities, their location wasn’t too far away; still well within Manhattan and near the water.  
Below them was a pitched battle between a young girl and a giant, hellish dog. Tony swore and immediately dove down. The second they were closed to the ground, Tony let the straps attaching the two together and Bruce hopped off. Not even a second after they landed, the dog lunged at the girl, one claw snapping her knife in half. The girl scrambled back, snatching up the pieces of her broken weapon even after the monstrous dog howled. Apparently that move had hurt it.  
Tony immediately started to shoot repulsor beams at the creature they had been called in to kill and capture just as the rest of the team arrived. They quickly reached Banner, who explained the little he knew about the situation so far.  
“Don’t get involved if you don’t have to,” Natasha ordered. “We’ll need you after this oversized dog is put down. We got another mission on the way here; it will need your strength. You’ve already transformed once today. Let’s not push the Big Guy.”  
Bruce hesitated, but Roger’s nodded, agreeing with her. “It’s alright, Banner,” said the captain. “Go check on the girl.”  
“Alright,” Bruce said, still uneasy about virtually abandoning his teammates. As Hulk, he was usually one of the heaviest hitters. Not fighting seemed odd.  
Nevertheless, he took off at a light jog towards the young teenager trying to meld together her broken knife as metal spun above her head and a strange mist curled around her feet.  
“Hey!” Bruce called, stopping a few feet behind her.  
The girl spun around, a hand aimed at Bruce. Besides the gold and precious metals swirling around her like a miniature tornado, it was her eyes that caught his attention. A deep, reflective gold that spoke of battlefields and sunshine and the darkest winter imaginable. He took a step back, only to hit a solid chest. He turned around to see a tall teenager, eighteen, nineteen at the oldest despite his impressive size. Blood oozed down his forward from a small cut on his forehead. Bruce backed away a bit, eyes darting between the two teens.  
Where had he come from?  
“I don’t want to hurt you,” said Bruce. “We came to help. What is that thing?” He gestured towards the monster currently being shot at (Clint and Natasha), blasted at (Tony), and knocked around (Captain Rogers).  
“Trained Hellhound,” the boy said. “Rare, dangerous, and a pain in the ass to fight unless you’ve got some Stygian iron or celestial bronze, which I’m assuming you guys don’t. Also can travel through shadows, which is only cool when you have one on your side.”  
“Who are you?” Bruce asked, just as the boy turned towards the battlefield.  
“Frank,” the boy said, then promptly launched himself towards the hellhound, transforming into a bear.  
“What-”  
“Hazel,” said the girl, following after the boy on a literal wave of jewels, precious metals, and gold. The two crashed into the monster with renewed force, the boy-turned-bear literally tearing the hellhound’s chest open. The creature howled for a brief second before bursting into a sulfurous gas. The bear landed on the ground, morphing back into the large boy from before. He stood, grinning at Hazel and then pulling her tight as he seemed to notice the circle of frozen Avengers around them. Clint in particular had to look frightening, as the man had a quiver with an arrow drawn pointed directly at Frank’s chest, as he had essentially taken the monster’s spot when he ripped open the thing’s chest with his bare hands.  
“Hazel!” Bruce called, running over. “Frank!”  
“Who are you kids?” Tony asked, his mask going up.  
“Hazel and Frank,” said Hazel, crossing her arms. “The people who just killed that monster. We have to go find our friend. Bye.”  
Roger’s snagged her arm as she tried to past him. “Sorry, kid. You’ve got to debrief. We’ve got another attack- ‘sea monster’, apparently. These two monsters might be connected, especially since they both appeared in Manhattan within minutes of each other.  
The girl whispered something to the boy, who nodded.  
“What are you saying?” Natasha asked, narrowing her eyes.  
“Take us with you,” said Frank.  
“Frank-” Hazel protested.  
“A sea monster,” Frank stressed. “It’s either our friend or...a potential camper.”  
Camper? Bruce finally noticed what the two were wearing. A set of light armor lay over purple shirts, with a bow and sheath of arrows over the shoulder for Frank, and a belt with a sheathed sword for Hazel- apparently the knife wasn’t the only weapon on her.  
“Okay,” Hazel sighed.  
“What was with the sparkly wave?” asked Frank, crossing his arms with a grin. Hazel shrugged.  
“I stole it from Percy,” she admitted. “It only really works when there’s a lot of material to work with, since I have less control with dirt and it doesn’t hold together as well then.”  
“Hold up, who’s Percy?” Tony asked.  
“Our friend,” Hazel replied after a brief pause. “Can we go now?”  
“No,” said Clint, surprising all of them. “You two are staying behind with one of us.”  
“What?” they said together.  
“No,” said Hazel.  
“No way,” agreed Frank.  
“This might be our friend in danger,” said Hazel. “We’re not leaving him in danger after coming all this way because you Avengers want to play hero!”  
Bruce’s eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. The two kids believed that their friend was with the monster. That’s why they wanted to go.  
Clint was only a few inches taller than Roger’s, but that difference made him tower over even Hazel’s boyfriend. Bruce honestly didn’t blame the five foot tall teen from backing up a step.  
“Look kid,” said Clint, grabbing Hazel’s hands. The tiny girl stared at him and he knelt down so they were nearly eye-level. “I’m not hero. I’m just trying to do the right thing, and that’s not dragging you into a battle.”  
“You didn’t care about that when we were fighting that monster,” she said.  
Clint sighed and released her hands. “Hazel, it’s dangerous.”  
Between Bruce and Rogers, Tony whispered, “Holy shit. Banner’s acting like an adult.”  
They both punched him in the shoulder.  
“You should try to follow in his lead,” Rogers said.  
Bruce turned his attention back to Hazel and Clint. The younger girl’s eyes were full of fire and stone cold determination. He knew then that no matter what Clint would try, she would not break.  
“We’re going to help our friend,” Frank said, with the strength of a leader in his voice. Bruce thought back to the bear the teen had shape-shifted in, and thought about the dangers that a mother bear posed when she thought her cubs were in danger. Frank had that sort of strength.  
“We’ve fought before,” said Hazel, holding out her hand for Frank to take. The teen slipped his own bear-sized hand into her tiny one as they stood together. “We know what to do. And we know Percy will trust us. Please,” she said. “Let us help.”  
Clint ran a hand through his messy hair and glanced back at Rogers, who nodded. “Fine.”  
They grinned for a brief moment, before becoming serious once more. Frank hefted his bow back onto his back and Hazel pulled her gloves back on. The sun glinted off of the metal sewn into the fabric.  
“Ready?” said Tony, sliding his mask back down.  
“As I’ll ever be,” Clint cracked, catching a set of batteries from Natasha. “What?”  
“Change them quick or they are going to die,” she stated bluntly, scooping up one last knife from the battle and slipping into her ankle sheath. When Clint only stared blankly at her, she elaborated, “Hearing aids.”  
“Oh!” Clint said, quickly endeavoring to do so. While the archer was preparing himself, Bruce found himself the center of attention from the unofficial team leader.  
“Ready, Banner?” said Rogers. Bruce gave a short nod and backed up a bit, then launched himself onto Tony’s back. The straps tightened around him as Frank transformed into an unnaturally large bird and Hazel climbed aboard. Bruce held back a laugh as Tony cursed about ‘crazy magic and scientifically impossible anomalies’. The various whacky magic things that had occurred after the battle with Loki had not improved Tony’s opinion on the mystical. Shaking his head, Bruce tried to get into the right mindset. Transforming into the Hulk without his full consent could lead to disaster if he wasn’t careful- the more in control Bruce was at the moment of transformation, the more the Hulk would do what was needed and not destroy things. In the missions after the invasion, he had become much better as summoning the Hulk without completely losing his memories while the Other Guy was out. Things like earlier that day, where Bruce couldn’t remember anything, only really happened when Bruce wasn’t expecting the Other Guy to come out.  
“I can see the monster!” Tony shouted into the earpiece that Bruce was wearing, making him wince. Peeking out from over the other man’s shoulder, Bruce’s eyes widened as he saw a large monster.  
“I can see why they call it a sea monster,” Bruce said wryly.  
“Hey, Hulk can swim, right?” Tony asked.  
“Yes,” said Bruce. His eyes narrowed in on the monster, noticing a strange dark spot darting around the creature. The waves were irregular as well, as if someone were controlling them.  
“Is that a person?” Tony asked as they reached the water. Bruce’s eyes widened just as Hazel shouted out that name again and the dark spot was hit by the creature’s tail.  
“Percy!”

**Author's Note:**

> Update is scheduled for the end of March. The story will then officially be on hiatus as I build up chapters. It will then follow an every-other week schedule, as I will have three other active series going (two over at FFN that I may or may not post here, and Arise from Ashes).   
> The schedule:
> 
> Week 1-   
> AfA  
> GLW 
> 
> Week 2-  
> Dark Abyss  
> AfA OR GLW
> 
> Monthly:   
> Stolen
> 
> There is also an update coming for 'okay is a relative term' and the 'sadness' series. :)


End file.
